The Seal
How Next Up scores athletes
Four numbers, one promise
Every athlete on Next Up carries four numbers. Here's exactly what they mean — no black box, no mystery.
SPORT (half of everything). How you perform, measured against athletes like you — same sport, same level, same position or event. A Sport score of 90 means one thing: you're in the top of your comparable group. We never compare a gymnast to a sprinter — that would be noise pretending to be math. The game comes first, which is why Sport is half the score.
MARKET (a quarter). Real demand from real people: how fast founding spots get claimed, how many distinct backers you have, how quickly drops sell. Not prices, not speculation — people. One human backing you counts; one person buying twice doesn't count double.
SOCIAL (a quarter). Your community's energy — not its size. Engagement, growth, and consistency matter more than raw follower counts, and what your people do HERE — claiming spots, cheering your updates — counts most of all. You can't buy this number, but you can earn it every week.
NEXT UP (the composite). Sport × 50% + Market × 25% + Social × 25%. The single number collectors watch. It's on your card forever at the moment it's minted — and it keeps living on your page as your career compounds.
TREND. The arrow beside the score. Thirty days of momentum — who's rising right now. The score says where you stand; the arrow says where you're headed.
Why your card's number and your page's number can differ
A card freezes your score at the moment it was minted — that's provenance, like a rookie card capturing a rookie season. Your page always shows today's score. Both are true. They answer different questions.
Confidence — how we know the numbers are real
Next to every Seal you'll see a Confidence level. It doesn't judge the athlete — it grades the receipts behind their stats.
VERIFIED — backed by an official source: league results, sanctioned meets, published box scores.
STRONG — backed by evidence: video of the moment, scoreboard photos, results documents, press coverage.
COMMUNITY — backed by people who were there: coaches, officials, scorekeepers — and confirmation from the OTHER team counts extra, because your opponent has no reason to inflate you.
PROVISIONAL — the starting line. Every legend starts unverified. It means “new here,” never “not real.”
The rule that keeps everyone honest: your story is yours to tell — post any stat, tell any moment. But only verified stats can raise your Seal into the top bands, unlock bigger edition sizes, or put you on trending. Your story is yours to tell. Your supply is earned with receipts. Nobody can game their way to a bigger drop — which protects every athlete who earned theirs.
Raising your Confidence — the receipts playbook
- Link the record. If your league, meet, or tournament publishes results anywhere online — link them to your stat. Official sources are instant top-tier confidence.
- Capture the moment. Scoreboard photo before you celebrate. The clip from your teammate's phone. Local-paper writeup. Attach them to the stat they prove — we fingerprint every file so it can never be quietly altered.
- Ask the people who saw it. Your coach, the scorekeeper, the official — attestations from people at the event build Community confidence. And here's the move most athletes miss: ask the opposing coach. Confirmation from the other side is the strongest voucher there is — they have zero reason to inflate you.
- Be consistent. Real careers have great days and off days. Post the whole journey — the pattern of a real season is itself evidence.
- When in doubt, over-document. Receipts you attach today protect the value of every card you mint tomorrow.
Confidence never goes down for asking questions, having an off game, or being new. It grows with evidence — and it belongs to you.